Highlights
Upcoming Audio
Conferences
Ethics in the Workplace Audio Conference Set for Wednesday,
May 13
2009–2010 Audio Conference Schedule
Edward DeSeve to
Headline AGA Leadership Breakfast June 4
Edward DeSeve, Special Advisor to the
President, Assistant to the Vice President and Special Advisor to
the U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director for
Implementation of the Recovery Act, will discuss the progress and
challenges government financial managers are facing with the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. AGA’s Leadership Breakfast
is set for 7:30 a.m. June 4 at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C.
The leadership breakfasts bring private sector and government
executives together to exchange information, solve issues and build
partnership and trust. Reserve Your Free* Spot Today!
Government Executive Registration Form
Corporate Partner Registration Form
* Free for government employees
Questions? Contact
Susan Fritzlen.
Training Opportunities
An Exclusive Offer for AGA Chapters and
ADVANTAGE Group Member Agencies: Discounted
Audio Conferences
AGA is pleased to again announce a special offer exclusively
for AGA chapters and ADVANTAGE group membership
agencies. For a limited time only, purchase four, five or six AGA audio
conferences as a package and you will receive a 10 percent discount on the
early-bird price offered by the AGA. Purchase seven, eight or nine AGA audio
conferences for a 15 percent discount. Purchase 10, 11 or 12 audio
conferences for a whopping 20 percent discount.
This offer is only available to AGA chapters and
ADVANTAGE group membership partners until July
8, 2009. Contact Maria
Lucas at 800.AGA.7211, ext. 308, with questions or to register.
Download the registration form.
The audio conference series has been a huge
success over the past few years. With thousands of participants
earning two CPE hours for each program, AGA now offers practically
monthly audio conferences that provide chapters and group membership
agencies a cost-effective and convenient way to provide quality
education for members and others in the government accountability
profession.
Questions about any of the audio conferences?
Contact Raymond Harris, CGFM,
Director of Chapter Operations and Audio Conference Producer, at
800.AGA.7211, ext. 339.
Not sure what is involved in becoming an
ADVANTAGE group membership agency? Visit our
website for details.
AGA Courses Help Managers
Track Stimulus Dollars
Spending billions and billions of dollars of stimulus funds in a
hurry is a formidable task. But tracking and accounting for these
billions of dollars is far more formidable and much more difficult.
AGA is offering three courses to help in managing and accounting for
these funds. They include:
Grants Management—This course provides a general
overview of grants management, including preparation, review and
submittal of proposals; negotiation and acceptance of grants;
post-award financial and administrative management; closeout and
audit; and relevant compliance issues.
Contract Auditing—This course
focuses on the purpose of contract auditing, types of contracts,
audit clauses to include in contracts, types of audits included in
contract audit oversight, development of audit programs and internal
audit, accounting and financial issues involved with procurements.
Fraud Detection and Prevention—This
course is designed to help organizations cut this cost from their
programs to reap benefits at the bottom line and in the eyes of
stakeholders. In this course you will learn what is fraud; how to
detect it in the normal course of program operations; what to do
when fraud is detected and how to develop measures to correct
practices that enabled fraud to happen.
Taught at the location of your choice, the courses include
lectures, group discussion and exercises and class problem-solving.
They can be customized to meet your needs and participants are
awarded CPEs at the conclusion of each course.
For course pricing and additional information about course
content, please contact Bekka Gehrmann, Education Manager, at
800.AGA.7211 ext. 309, or
bgehrmann@agacgfm.org.
|
May 11, 2009 •
News from the Profession
AGA Today is Brought to You by AGA Corporate
Partner Clifton Gunderson
 Clifton
Gunderson’s offices in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, MD, and Arlington, VA,
are seeking experienced professionals to join our public sector practice.
Ideal candidates will have 3+ yrs of Public Accounting or equivalent audit
experience along with a BA/BS in Accounting/IT/IS, CPA, CGFM, CISA
and/or CISSP. Duties will include audits of Federal entities, State & Local
audits (GASB), A-133 audits, and compliance auditing. To apply please e-mail
Michael.Armstrong@cliftoncpa.com
AGA's FMSB
Comments on Recovery Act Guidance
AGA's Financial Management Standards Board (FMSB) has commented on
guidance on the Recovery Act that appeared recently in the Federal
Register. In the board’s opinion, both the states and the federal
agencies will be interested in these data elements and the reporting
that follows. A serious concern for the states is who pays for the work
required to modify reporting systems to comply.
Read the entire letter.
Federal Aid is Top
Revenue for States
In a historic first, Uncle Sam has supplanted sales, property and income
taxes as the biggest source of revenue for state and local governments.
The shift shows how deeply the recession is cutting. Federal stimulus
money aimed at reviving the economy and a sharp drop in tax collections
have altered, at least temporarily, the traditional balance of how
states, cities, counties and schools pay for their operations. The sales
tax had been the No. 1 source of state and local revenue since the
mid-1970s, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Before that,
property taxes were the primary source. That changed in the first three
months of 2009. Federal grants—early stimulus money plus conventional
federal aid—soared 15 percent in the first quarter to a seasonally
adjusted annual rate of $437 billion, eclipsing sales taxes, which fell
2 percent. The dominance of federal money is set to expand dramatically
this year because tax collections are sinking while the bulk of federal
stimulus aid is just starting to arrive. —Dennis Cauchon, USA Today.
Read more.
AGA Today is Brought to You by Becker CPA Review
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Study with the leading provider. Government employees get dramatic discounts
for Becker CPA Review & Becker CPE. (Contract # GS-02F-0105R). You may
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Contact us at 1-877-CPA-EXAM or
www.beckerCPA.com and
www.beckercpe.com. E-mail John
Gioeli to learn more.
More States Start Pension Inquiries
The sprawling investigation into New York’s pension
investments hints at a much bigger problem than the handful of indictments so
far would suggest. What started as an investigation by the
New York attorney general, Andrew M. Cuomo, into the state comptroller’s
office—where Mr. Cuomo says favors were being exchanged for contracts to invest
pension money—has mushroomed into a broad look at more than 100 firms by
attorneys general in at least 30 other states. A survey of practices across the
country portrays a far-reaching web of friends and favored associates: political
contributors, campaign strategists, lobbyists, relatives, brokers and others,
capitalizing on relationships and paying favors. These influential figures can
determine how pension funds are invested, as well as state university
endowments, municipal bond proceeds, tobacco settlement funds, hurricane
insurance pools, prepaid tuition programs and other giant blocks of public
money. “What has developed is a corrupt system, where Wall Street, various
fiduciaries, politicians and corporate managers are draining America’s savings,”
said Frederick S. Rowe, a hedge fund manager who serves on the Texas Pension
Review Board, an oversight body. —Mary Williams Walsh, The New York Times.
Read more.
Details Thin on Stimulus Contracts
Although President Obama has vowed that citizens will be able to track
"every dime" of the $787 billion stimulus bill, a government website dedicated
to the spending won't have details on contracts and grants until October and may
not be complete until next spring—halfway through the program, administration
officials said. Recovery.gov now lists programs being funded by the stimulus
money, but provides no details on who received the grants and contracts.
Agencies won't report that data until Oct. 10, according to Earl Devaney,
chairman of the Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, which manages
the website. —Matt Kelley, USA Today.
Read more.
Survey: Recessionary Pressures
Leading to Fraud
Intense financial pressures during the economic crisis have led to an
increase of fraud, according to a survey of fraud experts conducted by
the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE). Results of the
survey, published in the new ACFE report,
Occupational Fraud: A Study of the Impact of an Economic Recession,
also found that layoffs are pervasive and are leaving holes in
organizations' internal control systems. The report is based upon the
responses of more than 500 randomly selected Certified Fraud Examiners
(CFEs). More than half (55.4 percent) of respondents said that the level
of fraud has slightly or significantly increased in the previous 12
months compared to the level of fraud they investigated or observed in
years prior. Additionally, about half (49.1 percent) of respondents
cited increased financial pressure as the biggest factor contributing to
the increase in fraud, compared to increased opportunity (27.1 percent)
and increased rationalization (23.7 percent). "The message to Corporate
America is simple: Desperate people do desperate things," said ACFE
President James D. Ratley, CFE. —ACFE.
Lawmakers
Seeking Consensus On Social Security Overhaul
Key lawmakers from both parties have held tentative talks about
overhauling the Social Security system, and Congress could turn its
attention to the federal retirement program as soon as this fall if
a bipartisan consensus emerges, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer
said Tuesday. "I am hopeful. It's a tough issue,"
Hoyer (D-MD) said in an interview, adding that he and other
lawmakers are still trying to assess whether sufficient support
exists to move forward. So far, Democrats have found a willing
partner in the Senate, where Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-SC) has
stated his desire to work with President Obama to make changes to
keep Social Security solvent. Projections show that the system,
which has brought in more money than it pays out, will begin to need
at least small infusions of cash from the rest of the government
within the next decade without changes to the benefit structure.
—Lori Montgomery, The Washington Post.
Read more.
GAO Issues First
Bi-Monthly Review of Recovery Act
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued its first in a
series of bimonthly reviews on states’ and localities’ uses of
Recovery Act funding. The report,
Recovery Act: As Initial Implementation Unfolds in States and
Localities, Continued Attention to Accountability Issues Is
Essential,
covers actions taken under the Act through April 20, 2009. The
report and other work related to the Recovery Act can be found on
its new website called
Following the Money: GAO’s Oversight of the Recovery Act.
Federal
Accounting Corner
Governmental-Type Versus Business-Type Collections
The U.S. Standard General Ledger (SGL) and the financial statements
are based, in part, on economic principles. One of those principles
is that governments act both in ways that are similar to any other
large economic entity and in ways that are unique to governments.
Like any large economic entity, the federal government buys and
provides goods and services. Unlike businesses, the government has
sovereign authority that allows it to coerce a transaction. When a
government agency receives income in exchange for goods or services
it provides, that income is considered to be exchange revenue (see
FASAB Statement 7, Appendix C). Nonexchange revenues include taxes
and penalties. The Statement of Net Cost includes only exchange
revenues, while nonexchange revenues are reported on the Statement
of Changes in Net Position. —Simcha Kuritzky, CGFM, CPA.
Read more.
Obama Scores High on
Transparency, Watchdog Group Says
President Obama has made “tremendous progress” in increasing government
transparency in his first 100 days in office, but still has work to do
in making more information available to the public, according to
an assessment from a watchdog group. The president has satisfied
three out of five specific transparency goals for the first 100 days
that were recommended by OMB Watch and 300 other individuals and
advocacy groups in November 2008, according to an April 29 report from
OMB Watch. The remaining two recommendations were partially satisfied.
—Alice Lipowicz, Federal Computer Week.
Read more.
GASB
Posts Video Podcast to Website
 The
Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) has posted the first in a
series of informative video podcasts to its website. The four-minute
video presentation features GASB Chairman Robert H. Attmore addressing a
series of questions about Statement No. 54, Fund Balance Reporting
and Governmental Fund Type Definitions. The GASB video podcast,
Fund Balance Reporting, may be viewed at
www.gasb.org.
Overflow Hotel Added for AGA PDC 2009
Have you registered for AGA's PDC and reserved your room in New
Orleans? If not, there’s still time! We encourage you to make your
hotel reservations early, for the best price and availability.
If you are unable to obtain a room at the New Orleans
Marriott (800.654.3990) or the Sheraton New Orleans Hotel
(888.627.7033), you may contact the JW Marriott New Orleans
for reservations. Centrally located on historic Canal Street (just a
block and half away from conference activities), this newly renovated
hotel is only steps from acclaimed entertainment and renowned
attractions, such as Bourbon Street, the Shops at Canal Place and the
Aquarium of the Americas. Guests delight in unparalleled accommodations,
savvy service and an abundance of upscale amenities.
To make a reservation, please call 888.364.1200 and mention that you are
attending the AGA PDC to receive the $120 rate.
If you’ve made a reservation and now find that you
cannot attend the PDC or don’t need a room, please be sure to cancel as
soon as possible so it can be made available to another attendee.
Hotel rooms are assigned on a first-come,
first-served basis until the hotels are sold out. Make your reservations
early. We look forward to seeing you in The Big Easy.
This Week on the AGA Blog
Monday: Sheila Weinberg,
CEO for the Institute for Truth in Accounting, on, "The Nation's Long-Term
Fiscal Outlook: Two Nightmare Scenarios"
Wednesday: Rhonda Reinke, CGFM, CPM, Chief
Administrative Officer, Washington State Transportation Improvement Board,
on, "The Finance Manager's Role in Successful Project Management"
Friday: Rebekah Stephens, Planning and Performance
Coordinator, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
AGA Needs You on the Blog! Come
share your opinions with the AGA community! Contact
Marie Force to book your day on the AGA Blog.
AGA Advertising Opportunities!
Advertise in AGA's electronic newsletters—TOPICS and AGA Today!
Get maximum exposure and build your brand.
Find out what's available in an upcoming issue.
Click here for all the information you need to run your ad. Or, you can
contact April Force Pardoe. |
